Mornings
by Won'tforgetcanregret
Summary: Another child of Hades has joined the group, and she's not the biggest fan of mornings. Nico is sent to wake her up. And when one moody child of the underworld disturbs another, it makes for an interesting confrontation. Takes place during House of Hades and therefore contains spoilers. One shot (for now, at least).


**Author's Note: The main character's name, Achelle, is pronounced "uh-shell." Likewise, the nickname Chelle is just "shell." Happy reading!**

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"Piss off, Nico," Achelle grumbled into the pillow.

"Language, little girl."

"You're only a year older that me." Her face was still firmly planted in her pillow.

"Technically, I'm close to 70 years older than you."

"And you're watching me in my sleep. That's just a recipe for stalker charges."

"We're related."

"Not anymore, if I kill you for waking me up this early."

"I've spent enough time in the Underworld to have learned how to not die at the hands of a small, angry person."

She turned to the side enough that one eye was visible-the green one. The brown remained hidden. "Why do you act almost normal around me and Hazel sometimes, but everyone else gets the Bright Little Ray of Death-shine act?"

"'Bright Little Ray of Death-shine?' Are you serious?"

"Yes, and if you keep avoiding the question I'll be forced to call you that for eternity."

"Oh, gods, send me back to Tartarus," Nico groaned.

"Still avoiding, Death-shine." She sat up, crossing her legs under her.

"Oh, shut it. Fine," he sighed. "What do you feel such a burning need to know?"

"Just…why? Why do you act like you hate everyone else? Why do you act like you're practically dead already?"

"Where do I begin? Oh, let's see, my whole family _is_ dead. That's not exactly a great start if you're looking for happiness."

"You have us."

"It's not the same." Achelle's face fell for half a second before she tucked it back behind an emotionless mask. "Sorry. It's just...you're not my mother. You're not Bianca. And that _still_ sounds bad, but I didn't mean it like that."

"Yeah, I know. My family abandoned me because I couldn't stop the weird stuff that happened around me. It scared them. But sometimes I miss my real brother." Now he understood the face she had made. It hurt a little, even when it wasn't supposed to.

He shook it off. "Ok, you've got to admit the whole death-visions thing is pretty creepy if you're not used to it," he pointed out.

"You mean this?" She snapped her fingers and a faint, ghostlike shape shimmered into existence and glided toward him. He still wasn't entirely sure how she created these images, but as near as he could figure, it was a manipulation of the hallucinations some people had before they died. He dispersed it with a wave of his hand.

"Weak effort."

"It's early."

"It's 7 a.m."

"Too early."

"Hasn't stopped you from interrogating me."

"Speaking of, you're not done yet. I know that's not it."

"There's the whole Tartarus thing. Tons of fun." He shuddered even thinking about it.

"Yeah all right, that one warrants complaining."

"I have your permission to whine, my lady?"

She gave a half bow, unfazed by his sardonic tone.

"I don't see why you're making me tell you all of this anyway. It's not like you haven't heard the stories."

"Theoretically it's supposed to make you feel better, and considering you won't talk to anyone else, I decided it was my job."

"I do not need therapy!"

"You are in desperate need of therapy and either we can do this, or we can have Jason do it, in which case it might be electroshock therapy. Now continue, so we don't have to drag this out any longer."

"You're really just trying to get me to say the…other thing."

She arched an eyebrow.

Nico rolled his eyes in exasperation. "You know which one. Don't act like you don't."

Achelle snapped her fingers again, and something that looked like smoke started to form into a person, a boy a few inches taller than Nico, with eyes that faded from the grey of the mist to a green-blue the precise color of the summer ocean.

"When are you going to tell him?" She asked simply.

"Never. They never have to know. I wouldn't even have told you if..."

"If you hadn't woken up screaming for him in the middle of the night?"

"It happened once, and if you ever mention it-will you please stop that?"

When the vision remained, he tried to erase it with his hand again.

"Good luck. I'm awake now." She held the image steady.

Nico made a sound akin to a growl, pulled out his sword, and slashed though the figure. His breathing sounded shallow as it disappeared.

"I can't tell them. Do you know how long it took me to admit it to myself?"

"This isn't the world you were born in, Nico. They won't care."

"Maybe they wouldn't care if it was someone remotely normal in the first place, but as it is they don't need another excuse to hate me!"

"Gods, Nico, they don't hate you."

He started pacing the length of the small cabin. "You're so naïve, Chelle, if you think they're ever going to accept us. They like you more than they like me, sure-"

"Maybe because I don't make a point of positively exuding death."

He glared. "I do not _exude_ death. But either way, they're scared of us."

He shouted the last few words, attracting the attention of Jason in the outside hallway. He yanked open the door to find Achelle in the midst of a grey cloud and Nico somehow glowing black. He shut the door as quickly as he had opened it.

Achelle froze for a second. "Well, we've done a great job to help that image."

"That's exactly my point! The son of Jupiter, probably the most powerful demigod here, is too afraid to interfere. They're all afraid of death. They're _normal_."

"Piper can control people's minds. Is that normal? Frank can turn into a dolphin at will. Leo spontaneously bursts into flames. Nothing here is normal."

"And I've managed to be even weirder," he replied with no shortness of bitterness in his voice.

"You're not the only one! Death comes to me, too. Do you know how many times I've seen my friends die entirely in my mind? Do you know-" she choked down the beginning of a sob. "-do you know how many times I've watched you die? Sometimes it's in battle, sometimes you're sick, sometimes...sometimes you kill yourself." She swiped away the stray tear that was brave enough to streak down her face.

"Chelle, I'm not leaving you like that. Don't you dare think I would."

She glared at him. "If you didn't act like you do, I wouldn't have to worry."

For once, the silence existed not because he wouldn't fill it, but because he couldn't. After a couple seconds, he tentatively reached out and wrapped his arms around her. She wiped away another tear and hugged him back.

As much as he cared about his sister, the physical contact was too much for Nico after only a moment.

"I'm sorry. I swear, I never meant to start this fight."

"I'll be ok, Death-shine." A hint of mischief came back into her mismatched eyes.

All the shared pain and sorrow from seconds ago vanished. "You said you wouldn't call me that if I answered!"

"Didn't swear on the Styx, now did I?"

"Keep it up and you'll be having your very own death visions."

"Low blow, zombie boy."

"You're entirely hopeless, Achelle, you know that?"

"I'd say it's one of my most endearing qualities."

Nico's snort _almost _resembled a laugh. He pulled her to her feet. As they made their way to the deck, they passed Frank, who nudged Hazel. "Was Nico smiling, or am I going insane?"

She laughed. "A little bit of both, I think. But you're right. He almost looked human."

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**Hope you guys liked it! I don't tend to write a lot of PJO/HoO stuff, but I was having a lot of Nico feels and this kind of just sprang into my head. That's all for today, folks, feel free to drop a review in exchange for my undying gratitude. **


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